Two Peas in a Potion

by Samantha Silver

  Amy pointed her wand towards the middle of the pool, and water suddenly spurted out of the tip, like she had just opened a fire hydrant. I took a step back at the sheer force of the water coming from her wand.

  “Woah,” I said, my eyes widening. Amy was definitely amazing at magic.

  “Now, you try,” Amy said. “Do you remember the words?”

  I nodded as I closed my eyes for a second and focused on my wand. I imagined my wand as an extension of my body, and imagined all of the energy inside of me heading towards it.

  “Jupiter, God of thunder, use my wand and bring forth water,” I said, feeling the energy inside of me build up. Suddenly, from the tip of my wand came a decent stream of water. It certainly wasn’t as strong or powerful as Amy’s had been, but it also wasn’t a slow drip, either.

  “Good, that’s actually really good,” Amy said, nodding contentedly. “I think the fact that you’re a witch from a coven of water is definitely helping.”

  “What if I were to try a spell from a random water coven?” I asked. “After all, would it work better if I used the spell from the coven of Pluto, even if I’m not from that coven?”

  Amy nodded. “That’s an excellent idea. I don’t know the spells for any of the other covens, but I can look them up at the library, and we can see what effect they have on your magical powers. Who knows? The odds are incredibly slim, but it’s possible that we may even accidentally discover which coven you do belong to.”

  I couldn’t help the smile that crept onto my face at that sentence. I tried not to think about it too much, but a part of me really wondered what coven I had come from. I wondered who my parents were - my biological parents, anyway - and why they had abandoned me. I thought that maybe if I discovered which coven I had come from, I’d be able to get the answer to all of those questions.

  “Now, I also want you to learn the opposite spell: you’re going to learn how to create fire.”

  “Cool,” I said with a grin. After all, this actually did sound a lot more awesome than being able to make a bit of light or water appear out of nowhere. Being able to create fire with my wand was basically the equivalent of becoming a human flamethrower, like one of the X-Men.

  “Now, of course, when you’re doing this spell, make sure that you point your wand towards the sky. We don’t want any major accidents.”

  I nodded and watched as Amy pointed her wand upwards. “Jupiter, bring forth fire, the cousin of Lightning.”

  Straight away, a burst of flame erupted from Amy’s wand and made its way hundreds of feet into the air. I gasped, impressed. That was way more than I had ever imagined. A second later, Amy ended the connection with her wand, and the flames disappeared. “Now, your turn.”

  Knowing that there was no chance that my fire was ever going to be as big as Amy’s, I was still a little bit nervous as I pointed my wand towards the sky, being extra careful that it wasn’t going to hit anything. After all, there was a large tree about 100 feet away, and I made sure my flame was definitely not in its path.

  “Jupiter, bring forth fire, the cousin of Lightning,” I said, focusing my energy towards my wand once more. This time, unlike Amy’s spell, mine just shot out a little bit of a flame. It honestly wasn’t much more useful than a barbecue lighter, and I had to admit, I was pretty disappointed.

  I had a feeling my emotions were written all over my face, because Amy smiled at me nicely. “Don’t worry, it wasn’t that bad.”

  “Yeah, but yours was just way better,” I replied.

  “You keep forgetting that these are the spells of my coven, and not of yours. I didn’t expect you to do much, and the fact that you were able to create any fire at all is impressive by itself.”

  “Still, I was hoping that my flame would’ve been a little bit more… well, deadly.”

  “Let’s see if it is when you put your feet in the water,” Amy said, motioning to the pool that took up the entire backyard. “Take off your shoes and socks, dip your feet in the water, and try the spell again. We’re going to see what happens when you do that.”

  I did as Amy asked, sitting on the edge of the pool and letting my feet drop in. The cool water was nice; even though it was only just after nine in the morning, the day was already starting to heat up. I took my wand once more and focused my energy, repeating the spell.

  This time, rather than a flicker of a flame, the fire that came from the tip of my wand was a lot more explosive. The flame was about three feet long, and maybe a foot wide. As I broke the connection with my wand, I grinned at Amy. That was much, much better.

  Amy nodded pensively. “Well, with that, I think we can say with 100% certainty that you are in fact a witch from a water coven. There is absolutely no way that you would have been able to generate a flame which was that much stronger without the water.”

  “So anytime I cast a spell, if I’m standing in water it will be stronger?” I asked.

  “Yes, exactly,” Amy replied. “For those of us from the coven of Jupiter, being in the midst of a thunderstorm has the same effect. Our powers are strengthened in that situation, because we are a coven of lightning.”

  I nodded slowly. I had to keep this in mind; it meant that I was stronger in water than in any other situation. In a way, I supposed it made sense. I had always been a strong swimmer; when my parents had signed me up for swimming lessons as a kid, everyone had been surprised at how strong a swimmer I was almost immediately, and I had actually joined the local swim club and won a few races before deciding I didn’t really want to be an athlete.

  “So if I try that first spell again as well, that will be stronger too?” I asked.

  Amy nodded. “It should be, yes.”

  I pointed my wand towards the bushes at the side of the house. After all, it was a hot day, and I wasn’t sure when the last time they had been watered was.

  “Jupiter, God of thunder, use my wand and bring forth water.” This time, the water that shot out of my wand was practically like a water cannon. It was very similar to the amount of water which had come out of Amy’s wand when she performed the same spell, and I saw her eyes widen in surprise and admiration as the water absolutely doused the plants. I really hoped I hadn’t overdone it and damaged the plants; I hadn’t expected the water coming out of my wand to be this powerful.

  To my surprise, the plants let out a huge shriek. No, it wasn’t the plants. A small, black figure darted out from underneath the bushes, water dripping as it ran as fast as it could towards me.

  “What on earth is wrong with you?” Mr. Meowgi asked, glaring at me. He was completely soaked, running around as if he was trying to get the water off of him.

  I couldn’t help it; I burst out laughing. “What on earth were you doing in there?”

  “I thought I saw a mouse.”

  “I thought I told you not to hunt any animals.”

  “You can’t just turn off instinct. Now, do something to dry me off.”

  I looked over at Amy, helplessly. “I can’t, I don’t know how to do a drying spell.”

  “Stand still for a second,” Amy ordered. Mr. Meowgi did as she asked, glaring over at me as he shivered in place, water still dripping off his fur. It was going to take a while before he forgave me for this.

  “Jupiter, with your power in the sky, use it now and make this cat dry.”

  Pointing her wand at Mr. Meowgi, his fur instantly went from completely soaked to bone dry.

  “Oh, thank goodness. Tell that other witch that she is much more powerful than you and that I like her more.”

  “Mr. Meowgi wants you to know that he likes you more than me,” I said to Amy with a smile on my face, and she laughed.

  “You’re welcome,” she said to my cat.

  “That’ll teach you to try hunting mice,” I replied. “If you can’t be trusted not to harm the wildlife out here, I’m going to have to put you on a leash, like a dog.”

  “You wouldn’t dare!” Mr. Meowgi gasped.

  “Then ins
tinct or not, behave yourself in the future,” I said, shooting him a warning look. Amy’s phone buzzed, and she interrupted as she read the text.

  “Tina, we have to go back to the Law office. Sara just texted me. They just fired her for being a suspect in Lorondir’s murder.”

  Chapter 18

  When we got to the offices, less than fifteen minutes later, after dropping a still-irate Mr. Meowgi off in the house, we found Sara at the front of the building, tears streaming down her face. Her broom hung limply at her side, and my heart broke for her. She had been so proud of herself for being able to get a job, and now it was all gone.

  “Tell us what happened,” Amy said as soon as we reached her, taking her friend into a huge hug.

  Sara sniffed. “It was awful. Absolutely awful. I don’t want to talk about it.”

  Amy and I shared a look. This was obviously not good, but we needed to know exactly what had happened.

  “Okay, come on,” Amy said. “We’re going to Hexpresso Bean, since you could definitely use a coffee that will dull the pain just a little bit.”

  Sara nodded mutely and followed after us as we led her way from the Law office that had just fired her. She left her broom at the front of the coffee shop, and the three of us went in, with Amy headed to the counter to order us food and drinks, while I led Sara to a quiet corner, motioning for her to sit down on an overstuffed arm chair while I sat at one end of the couch next to her.

  “Oh, Tina, I can’t believe they did it,” Sara said, the look on her face one of total dejection. “They actually fired me.”

  “Hey, listen, it’s going to be okay, you hear me?”

  Sara shook her head. “How on earth am I going to tell my mom what happened? I had finally gotten a job, and it was a good job. I mean sure, I wasn’t a Healer the way she had always hoped I would be, but at least this job involved using my magic in the way I know best. And now it’s gone.”

  “Don’t worry about that for now,” I said. “Here comes Amy now, can you tell us everything that happened?”

  Amy sat down next to me on the couch, and Sara took a deep breath before starting her story.

  “I came into work this morning, and Manarwa, who was one of the elves who bought out Lorondir’s share of the firm, called me into her office. She said that while the investigation was still ongoing, they couldn’t have anybody who was suspected of Lorondir’s murder working for the firm. She said that it didn’t look good for the company, and that they needed to make changes until everything was all sorted out.”

  “Oh, that’s just awful,” I said, reaching over and putting a hand over Sara’s. I felt so bad for her; she had been so proud of getting this job and now it was all gone because of something that she hadn’t done.

  “Wait, but does that mean that when the murder is solved you’ll be able to get your job back?” Amy asked.

  “I guess so, but I mean, how long is that going to take? And in the meantime, I’m going to be known as the girl who lost her job because her boss died on her broom, and she was one of the suspects in his murder. That’s not exactly the kind of reputation I want to have around here.”

  I could understand that. After all, right after I had entered Western Woods, someone had been murdered and a decent number of people in town thought that I had done it.

  Amy looked at me. “So basically, we need to make sure that someone is arrested for this murder as soon as possible.”

  I smiled slightly. “Is that you suggesting that we get involved in this?”

  “Hey, as much as I might think that it’s a bad idea, Sara is obviously being railroaded here, and I’m not going to stand around and do nothing when she’s had this job taken from her unfairly.”

  “You guys are the best friends I’ve ever had,” Sara said, more tears streaming down her face. “Thank you so much.”

  “Of course, it’s the least we can do,” I said. “Come on, drink your coffee and then we’ll take you home so you can sleep it off for a bit while Amy and I take care of everything.”

  After all, we already had a pretty good idea of who had committed the murder. We just had to make sure that Chief Enforcer King knew about it as well. Sara was going to have her job back in no time.

  After drinking the coffee, Sara looked noticeably perkier. The magic had obviously worked, but Amy and I still walked her home and made sure she was settled on the couch with a pint of ice cream and her favorite magical TV show to watch before heading off.

  Amy and I left soon afterwards, making our way to Chief Enforcer King’s office. When we got to the large building that housed most of the town’s main administrative offices, we were met by a tall shifter with a long nose and stubbly grey beard. This guy had to be a wolf shifter.

  “Who are you here to see today?” he asked as Amy and I entered the large, dark space.

  “We need to see Chief Enforcer King,” Amy replied. “It’s extremely important.”

  “I’m afraid the Chief Enforcer is not taking visitors today,” the wolf replied.

  “I promise you, she wants to hear what we have to say,” Amy said.

  “Well, why don’t you tell me what it is, and I’ll decide whether or not it’s important enough for you to see her.”

  Amy shook her head. “Sorry, it’s private and confidential, and definitely far above your pay grade.”

  I had to smile; it appeared Amy could definitely have attitude when she wanted to.

  The wolf shifter snarled at her. “Well, I’m afraid in that case I can’t allow you to see her.”

  “That’s alright,” Amy said. “Can I have your name though? I would like to tell Chief Enforcer King exactly who it is who is preventing her from arresting a murderer in this town because he took his gatekeeping duties far too seriously.”

  The wolf looked around, as though there might be somebody around who could help advise him as to how he could get out of this mess. He began to size Amy up, trying to decide whether or not she really knew what she was talking about, or if she was just blowing smoke to try and see Chief Enforcer King.

  Finally, he decided that we must have been telling the truth, or at least that it was in his best interest to believe that we were.

  “Fine, follow me.”

  I grinned at Amy as the two of us followed after the wolf, who took off down the hall at such a rapid pace that I struggled to keep up with him without jogging. I knew exactly where Chief Enforcer King’s office was, and when we were led into it, I found the lion shifter behind her desk, just finishing up a phone conversation. She held up a finger indicating that she needed a minute, then motioned for Amy and I to sit down on the two chairs in front of her.

  “Right, got it. Thanks,” Chief Enforcer King said with a nod, before hanging up the phone and facing Amy and I. “Good morning, witches. What can I do for you this morning?”

  I decided to let Amy take the initiative on this one. After all, she was a lot better at this sort of thing that I was, and having been a lifelong resident of Western Woods would better know how to frame what we wanted to say.

  “I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but Sara Neach was fired from her job this morning at Lorondir’s law firm,” Amy started.

  “Oh, I’m so sorry,” Chief Enforcer King said. “How awful.”

  Amy nodded. “Absolutely. It was all because the firm decided that they didn’t want someone who is currently under investigation for murder to be working for them, as it looks bad.”

  “Well, I would love to help, but unfortunately that is their right,” Chief Enforcer King said, opening her hands and shrugging.

  “I know that, of course,” Amy continued. “However, we thought that in the interests of having the guilty party brought to justice as quickly as possible, Tina and I would come here and tell you who we think committed this crime.”

  Chief Enforcer King leaned back in her chair. “I thought that I had told Tina that you witches needed to stay out of this. Did she not pass on that message?”

  �
��She did,” Amy replied. “And I have absolutely not done anything since that conversation.”

  Technically, that wasn’t a lie. After all, Amy had been working for Lita the night that the rest of us broke into the law firm and had a look at the will.

  “However,” Amy continued, “as you know, I do work for the head of the coven, and so as a result, I happen overhear a lot of conversation that happens within the walls of the coven headquarters, and I’m given the opportunity to speak with many of our esteemed citizens. The other day, I was told by a source that I trust that Lorondir changed his will in the week before his death, naming Farawir as his heir. We have also been told by someone who would know that Farawir has recently fallen back into the old gambling addiction that afflicted him in the past.”

  Chief Enforcer King studied the two of us for a while. “So the two of you are trying to tell me that Lorondir’s son killed him.”

  I nodded. “That’s what we think, yes. Have you had a chance to look at the will?”

  A hint of a smile appeared on Chief Enforcer King’s face. “That really isn’t the sort of information I’m willing or able to tell civilians.”

  “Well, if you have, how come you haven’t arrested Farawir yet?”

  “Again, the sort of thing that I don’t discuss with people who are not in law enforcement. But I can tell you this: I am extremely close to an arrest, and the information that the two of you have given me today should help me get a little bit closer to it.”

  Amy nodded. “You haven’t been given access to the will, yet, have you?”

  Chief Enforcer King looked at her with a shrewd eye. “You know a lot more about the law then you would like to admit, don’t you?”

  A blush crawled up Amy’s face, and I recalled Ellie accusing Amy of wanting to be a lawyer. It made a lot of sense, and I imagined that Amy spent at least some of the time in the library reading about rules and regulations in Western Woods. After all, enforcing rules seemed to be exactly the sort of thing Amy would be excellent at.